George Bush Trying to Squeeze in Last-minute Environmental Legislation

Most of the regulations and policy changes that the Bush administration are likely to enact involve loosening pollution restrictions on industry, while some involve Endangered Species listings for certain animals. Needless to say, environmental groups are angered at much of the reported rule changes, which are able to be enacted by a sitting administration without any formal review or real input from the American public.

Typically, these last-minute rule changes are difficult for the following administration to address or undo. As a result the Bush administration, although out of power in January, still holds significant long-term influence in certain areas - and this is one of them. The practice is not a new one, with most administrations doing the same thing during the sunset of their terms. It is a way to leave a lasting mark without having to navigate the difficult partisan waters of the formal legislative process.

And with a new administration's focus being on their campaign promises and the other pressing issues of the day, the last-minute changes from the previous administration are often overlooked. Or, they fall so low on the priority list that they are simply not able to be addressed.

Some of the Bush Administration's ideas are drawing waves of public criticism from people who are actually aware of the workings of government. One of the proposed changes involves weakening protections for endangered species in favor of giving mining companies more flexibility in setting up their mining operations. The public has submitted over 300,000 comments on this one issue alone, all of which the Bush Administration claims it will review in one week's time. Obviously, concerned citizens and environmental groups are not satisfied with that time-frame.

But not all of the last-minute Bush proposals are bad. His administration is also proposing to create the world's largest marine wildlife sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean. This plan would also go into effect on January 20.